My wife (who is Australian) and I (who am not) celebrated Australia Day last night with a meal of lamb and prawns. It was delicious and fun even though it was -10 and dark at the time rather than a more holiday appropriate 85 and sunny.
It's the 60th anniversary of Australian citizenship this year. Prior to 1949, Australians were simply British Subjects.
We both wish that we could have spent the holiday -- which commemorates the arrival of the "First Fleet" in 1788 (11 ships sent out from England to found a prison colony in Australia)-- with friends and family (and warmth) in Australia.
Australia Day is critiqued in Australia in a similar spirit to Columbus Day in the U.S. Perhaps it is fitting that Australian of the Year this year was Mick Dodson, a noted Indigenous Australian leader and a University administrator and Professor at Australian National University.
It would have been nice if the Australian Cricket team would have obliged and won.
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